Back in March, the Eagles made a bunch of free agent moves. They also traded for WR Arrelious Benn. Because this move happened at a busy time and because he’s not coming here to be a starter, the Benn deal remains an under the radar move.

Benn was a 2nd round pick by the Buccaneers. He did not become the impact player they expected. The Eagles got him cheap, but think they found a bargain. I think one factor that will help Benn is that he’s not coming here under pressure. He doesn’t have to become a star. He is going to be part of the WR corps. If he thrives, that’s great. If he is just a solid role player, that’s fine too.

Benn can help in a few different ways. First, he adds size and strength to the group. He is 6-1, 220. And that is muscle. Benn is a physical player and good blocker. He will help the run game when he’s on the field.

While Benn isn’t a great receiver, his skill set fits in well with what Chip Kelly wants to do. Benn has good RAC skills. You can throw him short passes or hand him the ball on a reverse/end around and he can make something happen. Benn plays big. He will go up and get the ball in traffic. He can take a hit. Benn can play in the slot or outside. He’s comfortable working the middle, but also has enough speed to be a deep threat.

Benn can also contribute on STs. He will cover kicks and punts. He has some KOR experience. Because of his size and physicality, STs play comes naturally to him.

He does have limitations. Benn isn’t as fast as DeSean Jackson. He doesn’t run crisp routes like Jeremy Maclin. He doesn’t have Jason Avant’s hands or ability to make quick cuts as a route runner. There is a reason the Bucs traded Benn for little compensation. They didn”t see a player who fit what they wanted to do or that they expected to get better in their system.

I love the move and think it was a terrific risk, but I’m biased because I’m an Eagles fan and I was very high on Benn when he was at Illinois. He let me down in Tampa, but I’m willing to forgive him. All I ask is that he score 10 TDs, cure cancer and convince Megan Fox to become an Iggles Blitz intern. Seems pretty reasonable.

Benn might not pan out in Philly, but he has the potential to be a good role player in the Kelly offense. Check out this video and you’ll see some of the skills that make Kelly think he will fit in here.

52 Comments on “Arrelious Benn”

If Benn makes the team, where do you think that leaves Riley Cooper? They seem somewhat similar. Bigger physical guys. Not burners. Can play special teams. Can block.

2TommyLawlor said at 10:27 PM on June 21st, 2013:

I think both guys have a real good chance to make the team. Chip likes big WRs.

Avant is the guy I think is in trouble. Just a guess, though.

3Flyin said at 10:34 PM on June 21st, 2013:

Tommy, do you think WR may be one of the toughest cuts to make, and what other positions do you think the competition is the greatest with depth to cut?

4TommyLawlor said at 11:49 PM on June 21st, 2013:

WR and TE will both be tough.

5Dominik said at 7:10 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

I respect your opinion, of course, but I don’t think it will be as tough to cut Harbor, Carrier or Shaw in comparison to Benn/Cooper/Avant/Shepard (altough he could be signed to the PS)/Johnson/Momah.

At least that’s my feeling. The three TE never showed (pretty much) anything, altough Shaw and Carrier never had the chance, to be fair.

For all the other WR, you have something that could work really well in our Offense: Benn and Cooper bring size, blocking and ST to the table; Avant has great hands and is a leader and mentor. Shepard is very versatile, Johnson has monster speed and Momah has the physical tools to be a monster.

Kelly has to cut at least two out of those six IF he wants to keep 6 WR. That’s tough. On the other side, I wouldn’t cry if they cut Harbor.

6GEagle said at 9:44 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

I dunno why, but Harbor always rubbed me the wrong way. I do acknowledge that he has some skill and probably didnt get a fair shake to show what he cound do under Reid. Kinda hoping Bellicek will come calling for Harbor.
..
Besides Fragile Gronk, and Hernandez who I suspect will be changing his adress pretty soon, I cant think of any TE’s of note that will be at Patriots TC, but I do know they have like 7 on their Roster. I wonder how Harbor stacks up with what they have at the position.
..
I wonder how Reid era TEs, Harbor and Celek would feel if Howie shipped them to New England in August? Would they be upset? or thrilled?..Celek seems to be a guy who takes pride in being an Eagle, but getting the chance to become Tom Brady’s number one target is an opportunity of a lifetime. I mean, Hernandez is in trouble, Gronk will miss games, Ammendola hasnt exactly been an iron man, welker is gone….Just wondering, its not like I actually expect us to trade Celek

7Dominik said at 10:32 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

Two things: we would need another TE if we ship Celek. Chip wants to run a lot of 2 TE sets, he won’t be ok having Ertz, Casey + Harbor.

I read that the Patriots are very high on Jake Ballard, the former Giant. One quote I read was “Gronk clone”.

And they have Hoomanawanui (or Hooman :D). So I’d be very surprised to see a move from Belichick for one of our TE, despite the situation around Gronk and Hernandez.

Also, Belichick seems to love Zach Sudfeld (athletic freak with a lot of injuries in College). I guess (no one really knows, of course) that BB would more likely give a roster spot to him than to a guy like Harbor, who really didn’t show anything in the NFL.

8GEagle said at 11:20 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

Thanks, forgot about Ballard..didnt know about the others…Agreed about needing 2 TE’s…A trade for Celek could only happen if Chip was like ridiculously high on Carrier or Shaw(which seems like a stretch)…Harbor on the other hand, I wouldnt mind letting go if we can get anything in a trade…
..
Are Carrier and Shaw more Harbor/Casey Hback types or Celek/Ertz types?

9GEagle said at 9:32 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

Its going to be very interesting to see how it all shakes out. If Andy were our coach this would still be a very tough battle to project even tho we had 14 years to study Andy’s ways and tendancies because there is a lot of talent and potential….But with Chip, its practically impossible because we are totaly in the dark in terms of how many of each will he keep.
…
Tom, would be interesting to see an average of how many TE’s and how many WR’s Chip has kept in the past..and then get the ratio, for how it correlates/projects to the smaller Roster…That wont neccassarily give us a precise idea about how many he will keep in the NFL, but interesting none the less..
..
Damn It! “I was told that there would be no math”…sigh

10Tumtum said at 10:27 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

I get the sense it’s more about talent. It seems like Chip is more concerned with keeping the best players. Once he has the best guys the offense will adapt for those players. I think versatility will be key. With the smaller roster sizes and the style of play guys are going to have to see the field. Stashing players doesn’t look to be an easy task.

11GEagle said at 11:17 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

I dont disagree…but he will still show tendancies in the future after we have a few seasons under him to go by..impossible to know what they are at the moment..

12OregonDucker said at 1:33 PM on June 22nd, 2013:

I believe Chip will keep Avant because of his character and leadership. Based on what others have said in this thread, a person could argue he is in some trouble but his character will win the day.

Regarding Benn, what stands out for me is his passion in each play shown in your video. He’s balls-out in every play. Chip loves this kind of passion and may keep him as an example of what he wants in a WR. Of course, he will have to perform in TC or all bets are off.

13GEagle said at 9:21 PM on June 22nd, 2013:

I also think Charecter could be Avant’s saving grace. We are a very young team with not that much veteran leadership. Avant could be valuable for chip if he has to make some tough, unpopular cuts

14D3FB said at 2:15 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

I don’t know that Cooper has ever lined up in the slot. If you were able to line up Cooper and Benn to block for damaris on a bubble screen I think thats a mismatch in favor the offense.

15GEagle said at 9:23 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

Its certainly a mismatch for us, however we have to ask ourselves, how often in that situation would we prefer going with Cooper, when we have guys like Ertz who are bigger but have plenty experience lining up as recievers. Ertz is a credible recieving threat. When he splits out wide, defenses have to respect him and play him as a reciever, so its not like Lining him out there tips the defense off that a screen or a run play is coming..
..
The slot issue is a very good point that I too would appreciate seeing answered. Like you, I cant recall ever seeing him line up in the slot. What excites me the most about Riley, is that he isnt just going to skate by and remain on this team. In the past, he was pretty Unique to our midget recieving corp. Riley has a much better chance sticking, when the only other size you have on your roster is Celek and Harbor(last year)…That is no longer the case. This will be the most important battle of his career. The pressure is on for Riley, and either way it goes, its exciting to finally find out exactly who Riley Cooper is. The competition could cause him to elevate his game, or self destruct. I have always gone back and fourth trying to project what kind of player Cooper would grow into, well now Im excited to find out

16Ben Aven said at 10:44 AM on June 24th, 2013:

I’m almost positive Cooper got some snaps in the slot last year when Avant was out with an injury.

17Tumtum said at 8:48 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

Riley can take a hike.

18Flyin said at 10:30 PM on June 21st, 2013:

Regarding Benn’s hands… you put him up against a very high standard.

What flaws have you seen?…that video obviously shows his goods hands.

19TommyLawlor said at 11:17 PM on June 21st, 2013:

The video doesn’t show impressive hands. He isn’t plucking the ball smoothly on the downfield throws. He makes the catch, but it isn’t smooth or natural.

TO is a guy that didn’t have naturally good hands, but worked hard to get better. Benn is okay, but does need work.

20Flyin said at 11:25 PM on June 21st, 2013:

My novice eyes saw that he caught the ball away from his body, which I interpret as good. And he he did not have bricks as mitts. So I saw a little softness to let the ball land in his hands. I get the “it’s mine” aggressiveness you refer to, at the same time, he got the job done.

Speed and RAC ability. He can be much more dynamic with the ball in his hands than Avant.

23Aleandro green said at 11:00 PM on June 21st, 2013:

anyone here a josh freeman fan? just curious

24TommyLawlor said at 11:16 PM on June 21st, 2013:

I liked him at KSU. He’s been up and down in the NFL. Not sure how much is him and how much is overall situation.

25Aleandro green said at 11:38 PM on June 21st, 2013:

would be interested in him next season if his contract situation isnt resolved? assuming the eagles qb situation is still up in the air

26TommyLawlor said at 11:51 PM on June 21st, 2013:

I would need to watch Freeman closely before knowing if he could be a Kelly guy. My guess is that they wouldn’t pay him the money he’d likely be looking for.

27GEagle said at 9:02 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

What always shocks me is how other young QBs talk about Freeman, like he is a player they should be aspiring to be like…You always heard Freemans name when talking to this crop of rookie QBs going into the draft…and while Freeman is a pretty talented guy, he hasnt established himself yet in the NFL and I think it could still go either way for him(improve to be a longterm quality starter or Career backup). JUry is still out

28GEagle said at 8:58 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

Kinda Ironic to see us talking about going after Freeman, when the Team that has him, was trying to trade for Nick Foles

29Tumtum said at 8:54 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

I really really like Freeman. He hasn’t quite panned out the way everyone hoped to this point…until this year. Second year in the system. A freaking wrecking crew online. Doug Martin..Vincent Jackson. Predicting a big time break out year. If it doesn’t happen, then I think no ,matter the circumstance he has been way over rated by myself and others.

30Mitchell said at 11:05 PM on June 21st, 2013:

Would have to obviously see more tape to get a good feel for his hands but his RAC potential is tremendous! I also noticed some elusiveness which I can see beneficial for the slot. Are there many slot guys his size in the NFL?

31TommyLawlor said at 11:27 PM on June 21st, 2013:

Good question on slot guys. Some teams want small guys. Other teams like size. Dallas has used Miles Austin inside effectively. I think the Chargers had big slot guys. BUF used 6-5, 215 David Nelson in the slot at times. I think GB has big guys in the slot. And so on.

32D3FB said at 2:11 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

Wheres your cut off for “Big” guys? Being 5’11 or more?

33Mitchell said at 2:07 PM on June 22nd, 2013:

I would say anyone over 6′ and 200 pounds. I feel for the most part guys under that are generally much faster and “shiftyer”

34Flyin said at 12:22 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

Flyin’ Rant…

I do not understand how Tommy has not been picked up by a corporation running sports. Whether it be insight/ scouting/ analysis which he can do all 3 simultaneously. Everyone here that reads this sight knows someone. Network people for Tommy. I have tried and not gotten results, let’s be positive and make this happen! Don’t give up!

35A_T_G said at 1:01 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

I am a teacher. I could probably arrange for a semi-regular spot on our closed-circuit morning announcement broadcast. Maybe two minutes every other Friday? You will need something more wholesome than Megan Fox and pudding, though. What do you think about Emma Watson and homemade fruit bars?

36Flyin said at 1:29 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

“I could probably”…do what?

37Flyin said at 1:39 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

nott

38Tumtum said at 8:56 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

Why haven’t I donated this month? Let me do that.

39A_T_G said at 12:51 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

Good stuff, as usual, but that might be the worst soundtrack of all the videos on YouTube.

40Flyin said at 12:54 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

Tommy rocks his own soundtrack.

41Pennguino said at 2:59 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

This is
going to be the best battle in camp. It
will also be the widely debated subject outside of the QB race. Every wide receiver is in a contract year. This year is an open audition to remain an
Eagle going forward. I think that
applies to all positions but the wide receivers are so close in skill set or
perform a specific role that there are valid arguments to keep one over the
other.

Desean
Jackson: He is actually in a virtual
contract year as Tim explains here http://tinyurl.com/mmnbh6r He is the most dynamic player we have. He can score from anywhere on the field and
has done it at multiple positions. He is
capable of 10-13 catch performance and racking up 220+ yards but I don’t see
him as the type of receiver that can go into beast mode and take over a
game. He has game changing speed but not
the elusiveness of a Shady McCoy. I
think this lends to the issue of not being more productive in the red zone. I am interested and seeing him perform in
those bubble screens. After getting
rocked by Duante I understand the hesitation to work the middle of the field. It is confidence not lack of ability. Hopefully Chip will be able to restore that
confidence in him. If he can’t become
the all around player Chip likes (blocking, middle field), this may be his last
year. 95/5 he stays. His biggest threat is himself.

Jeremy Maclin: He is actually in the last year of his rookie
contract. He just turned 25 a few months
ago. He is still young and is just
entering into his prime. He had a great sophomore
year with 10 TD’s and just under a 1000
yards. He looked to be the real thing
and then the mysterious sickness hit him in 2011. Even with the year they had last year he
still managed to put up over 800 yards and 7 TD’s. He put up over half his yards and TD’s with
Nick at QB but also got a goose egg in the Washington game. He has what I like to call “quiet
production”. You will get from time
to time a flashy grab or a nice looking TD but not the highlight reel that
Desean gives you. But at the end of the
season his stats are that of a marginal number 1 receiver. He has the speed to be a threat deep and the
route running to be the open receiver.
He doesn’t have the best hands and his blocking could improve. If he wants to stay employed with the Eagles,
he will have to improve on those two things.
90/10 he stays. His biggest
threat is blocking and being physical.

Jason Avant: The most underrated receiver on the
team. All he does is catch first
downs. He is the undisputed leader of
the WR’s. He mentors the younger ones
and sets the example for the whole team.
He has the best hands of the team and has always been a security
blanket. He is one of the best blockers
on the team and a good ST player. His
catch rate continued to get better over the last three years. Yard Barker actually rates him as the only
receiver to not drop a catchable pass all year.
He has increased the amount of catches in every year he has been in the
league. Last year was the first year
that he did not also increase his yardage from the previous year. There will be games that will be a grind
where the deep ball is not working. It
will be a dog fight. You will need Avant
to work the dirty area and move the chains.
It was him who Foles had alter his route and come up with the catch as
the second to last play of the Tampa Game.
Avant caught it, was tackled and got up and immediately got the ball to
the official and started waving for everyone to rush to the LOS. A very heads up play. Kelly needs a Jason Avant on his team. 80/20 he stays. He is not special but has two qualities no
one else has. Leadership and hands. His
biggest threat is Cooper and Benn.

Riley Cooper: He is going into his 4th season and is a
little older than Maclin. He sat out the
first half of the season recovering from a broken collar bone. In the final 8 games he put up 230 yards and
3 TD’s. 14 of his 23 receptions went for
first downs. Over the course of a full
season that would be 460 yards and 6 TD’s
Not bad production from you second string receiver. The problem is that over the course of the
last 8 games, he started 5 of them. You
would expect better production from a starter.
Two of his three TD’s came against Dallas. They were great one handed catches. He has the measurables that Kelly looks
for. Plus he is a key Special Teamer. He
catches the ball well and has some RAC ability.
Cooper signed a 4 year contract as a rookie. 65/35 he stays. If he excels in Kelly’s offense he may
threaten Avant’s position. His biggest
threat is Benn (More athletic but crap for hands)

Demaris Johnson: He was another dynamic player in college and has had a little success last year. More quick that fast he averaged over 13
yards a catch. He has a little spark to
him but the only way he makes the team is as a return specialist. Who do you pull off the field to put him on? Do you run him in a 2 WR, 2TE, single back
set? try and isolate him on a LB or
bubble screen him? 60/40 he stays. He was our best returner last year and he was
dynamic in that role in college. His
biggest threat a current member taking away a return role and Russell Shepard.

Ifeanyi Momah: Signed a 3 year deal as a FA. The Eagles committed to him a little more
than most FAs. He has the intriguing
size and speed. He missed his senior
season with a bad knee. I think the
Eagles see him as a project and knew his services were in demand, that is why
he was offered a three year deal. That
is also why he doesn’t make it to the practice squad. He will fill the role of the red zone threat
and as the 4th TE. I don’t expect him to
dress until later in the season. 55/45
he stays. He has no threat other than
himself. As long as he improves Chip
will keep him around with his eyes on next year. The top 4 WR’s all have contract issues next
year.

Arrelious Benn: Good prospect coming out of college. Questionable hands. He blocks well and is a big physical
receiver. He will have to demonstrate consistent
hands and better route running. He is a
little stiff and has issues in and out of his breaks. He will have to out shine Cooper on the field
and in special teams to beat him out.
His best bet is that Cooper develops into an above average player with
some great catches that he takes Avan’t role as the team’s best hands and
safety valve. Then Benn will have a slot open. 50/50 he makes
the team.

Russell Shepard: Jack of all trades. Pure athletic football player. Needs time to develop. Needs to be given a position. He has been working as a WR. Read he could play some DB. HIs time will be on the PS learning to get
better as the team decides what to do with him.

There ya go. 6 WRs

42Dominik said at 7:28 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

Actually, it’s seven. 😉 (Jackson, Maclin, Avant, Cooper, Johnson, Momah, Benn all have a 50 or more percent shot at making the team in your list).

And that’s the problem. 🙂 Even if you put Shepard on the PS and hope he will not be signed from another team, you still have 7 WR for a maximum (!) of 6 spots.

I think it should be a battle between Cooper and Avant (in my opinion, I don’t know if Kelly feels the same way). Can Cooper improve? He wasn’t even an average player since he’s been an Eagle, but has the physical tools to be one. Avant has not the speed or size Kelly wants, but has great hands and is a leader.

I would like to keep Momah and Johnson. Benn is close to being a lock, Maclin (exception: trade) and Jackson are locks. That leaves the two, with outside chances for Shepard if he really impresses at camp.

If you put a bullet to my head I would say: cut Cooper. We have size with Benn and Momah, Cooper didn’t show enough when he had the chance. The leadership of Avant could be important, his 3rd down catches too. But it’s a tough decision, no question about that.

43GEagle said at 9:04 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

If I put a bullet to your head, I doubt you will be saying much of anything..lol JK

44A_T_G said at 10:04 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

Eh, putting a bullet to your head isn’t all that worrisome. It’s only if you put it in a gun.

45Pennguino said at 9:57 PM on June 22nd, 2013:

No, its 6 😀 The top 6 all have less than a 50% chance of being cut/traded. Only Benn has an equal chance of making it or being cut. The proverbial bubble player

Benn doesn’t bring anything to the table that we don’t already have with Cooper. As I showed above Cooper has actually out performed Benn since being in the league when he was given the chance. And that is with 2 crappy years at QB and an O-Line that was mostly second stringers.

They are both what they are. Situation role players. Riley has better hands and height to be more effective in the red zone.

46Tumtum said at 10:05 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

Great post. Linky and all. You clearly attended the GE99 seminar for awesome football talk posts.
Want to start this out by saying I think you throw out stats from last year. The offense had a horrible year. There was bad O-line play and bad QB play. The skill guys had the production hurt even if it wasn’t their fault. Its hard to say who really had a bad year. Also going to keep this about guys on the team last year.

Desean – I take issue with some of what you said. You weren’t real clear but it sounds like you expect that Desean is cabable of being a high catch 1500+ yards kind of guy. I disagree. He can’t make his own space with lateral agility (as you mentioned he was lacking compared to Shady..but who isn’t?). The last big play he has had that wasn’t an over-the-top throw was the second miracle at the meadow lands. He got that separation by dropping the ball and getting the defense to break assignment and attack the ball. I feel like his route running is not precise. You will hear announcers talk about how good he is and then you see an out route that looks like a J. He does attack the ball extremely well and seems to make catches on balls that are up for grabs way more often than not, while running North-South. When he is running East-West he seems to hear footsteps and lose concentration and drops balls in tight space. To me even if he corrects that last point he is a guy that the coaches have to scheme to get into space, and will mainly have to rely on his speed to create it before the catch otherwise. So a bubble screen where the receiver is 15 yards off could be real effective if he runs past the guy. On the other hand if the DB reacts well and comes up quickly, odds are Desean won’t make him miss. I think we have seen Desean at his best, and that is still DARN good. Expecting more sets you up for a let down in my opinion.

Jeremy Maclin- I pretty much agree completely with your assessment. I really see room for improvement as well. With his skill set, and body, he really has the potential to be a top flight kind of WR. Torry Holt sort of guy.
Cooper- This is gonna be pretty fan-boyish with little reality and tons of speculation FYI! For me this experiment is over. Maybe he turns it around, that would be great. I am over it thought. I get the sense that he has had a ton of support from players and coaches to convince Andy to get him on the field. So here he is doing nothing, getting the sense that he is something special. You can even hear it in the way the announcers talk about him. It seems as though when they interview coaches they speak highly of him. Then when he gets on the field he does nothing. I seem to remember 1 catch from him. The announcers talked it up as though he used his size to out muscle a guy. In reality it looked like he had a step and it was a great pass put only where he could come up with it. Don’t recall against who.
Avant- Agree with everything you say. I don’t see how this guy is not on the team. He also plays bigger than he is. There have been a lot of Benn to Boldin comparisons. I feel like this is our Boldin. Unfortunately, not Boldin in his prime, Boldin right now. Which is a fine SB winning receiver.
Johnson – See I disagree with you on him. Desean thinks he is the Eagles black mamba. I think Damaris fits the mold better. Maybe even more closely resembles a guy like LeMichael James. Very quick and agile, and maybe lacking a little in top flight speed. So I think Chip likes this type of guy a lot. The only other guy in the WR corps that seems like he might be able to take that role on is Maclin who was a slot guy in college. Has he grown into his Wide out role too much though? Next you have to take notice that the guy was what undrafted or a 7th rounder and climbed all the way to #2 on the depth chart and was getting snaps with everyone healthy anyway? That’s more than you can say for Cooper. Heck he made more plays last year than Cooper has made in his entire career. The way I see it he has little competition on the roster because of the lack of similar player, coupled with Chip’s perceived liking of this player type. I think you take Desean and Maclin out of the equation because they are making the team. If you are in the hurry up Damaris could line up out wide, in the slot or in the backfield. I put him at 99-1, staying.

47Pennguino said at 9:03 PM on June 22nd, 2013:

Thanks for the reply. Good stuff.

Desean: I agree with a lot of what you said. In his first year he double caught a lot of balls. His hands have improved as expected. When I mentioned the 220 yard game, I made it in a perfect storm frame of mind. I can see him hitting around
1200-1300 yards if he is effective in the middle of the field and becomes what Chip wants. I don’t think he will be the
leading receiver at the end of the year. Well, I think it will be a tossup between him and Maclin. Expectation is around 900-1000 yards 5-7 TD’s

Maclin: If he improves his blocking, he may never leave the field. Ertz and Mac give you the speed on the outside to go down field if they go 3 TE with a single back set. Motion Casey into the FB role or even split backs and you have a power running set or Casey is your extra blocker in max
protect while Ertz, Mac and Brent work the field. The RB’s go into a read-release. Read blitz or pressure then release. Expectation is around 1100 yards and 8-10 TD’s

Avant-Cooper-Benn: 2 of these three that make the team will have a reduced role. The two TE set will be utilized more often and add in an occasional 3 TE set. Plus the Chippa will run the ball more than we are used to seeing. This all leads to situational role base playing. Yes, we will have a more up tempo offense so that should offset some of the reduced playing time. Cooper is more useable in the red zone.

Benn brings nothing that we don’t already have. He was traded for based on his draft status and potential. Coop gives you better production, better red zone potential (Height and Hands) and is one of our better blockers and a key Special Teamer.

Johnson: You make a lot of great points. I agree he can be
one of those types of slot players. I look at slot players like quarterbacks. You have the Mobile type (Vick, Wilson), the stationary (Foles, Flacko) and you have the best of both (RG3, Cam). The slot is the same. Welker-Johnson,
Boldin-Cooper, Cruz-Maclin. They are all effective and play a certain role within the offense.

Do you think Shady could get some slot time? If you have Shady and Bryce in the backfield and motion Shady into the
slot. Either a LB has to move out to pick him up or you walk a safety down over top of him. In the first instance, Shady will eat up any LB in the league with his agility. In the second you just put Desean or Maclin in a one on one on the outside. This all in a single TE set.

I hope they all play well and play up to their potential. Looking at next year based solely on who I like I think it could fall into the following scenario:

Desean gets traded for a late first or early second. Momah moves into the outside role opposite of Maclin (new contract). When we go 3 wide Mac moves to the slot and Cooper takes the outside. Depending on the matchup Coop may go inside. Johnson and Avant are role players.

48Dominik said at 10:15 AM on June 23rd, 2013:

Altough I see Benn vs. Cooper entirely different, I give you one thing: it’s very easy to like the guy who hasn’t screwed up on YOUR team yet (!) more than the guy who has.

Benn hasn’t produced in Tempa, Cooper was a disappointment in Philly. Obviously, watching every Eagles game and cheer for the team on the one hand and not really caring about Tempa on the other hand makes it more obvious to cheer for Benn. Fresh air and all that stuff.

But if Cooper finally shows something on the field that’s totally fine with me. I’m not rooting against him, I just don’t believe he has enough in him to help the team and cut out Benn or one of the other receivers. He just hasn’t showed anything except for tiny, tiny flashes that makes me optimistic. But, like for all the other players, maybe the coaching change could help.

49Tumtum said at 10:47 AM on June 23rd, 2013:

That’s a pretty specific and unique prediction. I’m in! I don’t know that I like Cooper in that or any role, but the kid does have the dreaded P word.

50GEagle said at 8:56 AM on June 22nd, 2013:

I dont know how much we can call a guy a bust who finished 6th and 11th in YAC so early in his career. Its more of a case of injuries accumilating, missing too many games not getting any continuity.
..
Im also extremely high on this move. like Tom, I was a big fan of the kid in college! I think this was a very accurate portrayal of the player that we are getting. He wont be our best reciever by any means, but I wouldnt be surprised if he has a nice season, capitalizing on all the attention some of our other weapons will command..
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i really dont know whats going on with Benn vs. Cooper, vs. Avant. Atleast 1 will get the Ax. this is a young team with not much veteran leadership. If Avant has really bought into Chip, having a respected veteran like him on his side could be very valuable to chip especially if he is going to make some unpopular cuts or decisions. Cooper has continued to make our roster because of size and potential. Thats not going to cut it any more here. He will have to earn his spot, which he is certainly capable of doing..I do think Benn threatens Coopers spot because I see it as Benn can do everything that Coop can do, but Im not sure Coop can work the slot like Benn can…For me the hardest battle to predict is our pass catchers(TE and WR). No clue how many of each we will keep. Cant wait to see how this battle plays out

51the midatlantic said at 12:34 PM on June 22nd, 2013:

Tommy- thoughts on Jordan Poyer saying he can overcome his physical deficiencies because “I understand the game of football 100 times more than a lot of players do”? Seems a very defensive thing to say — and an excuse not to try to get stronger, faster, etc through aggressive conditioning.

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